“How many times have you been writing an email and had to reference something in another message? Saving a draft, opening the old email, and then reopening your draft wastes valuable minutes. The new compose pops up in a window, just like chats (only larger).

“This makes it easy to reference any other emails without ever having to close your draft. You can even do a search or keep an eye on new mail as it comes in. And because the compose window works the same way as chats, you can write multiple messages at once and minimize a message to finish it later.”

They’ve also added new features like the ability to easily insert inline images and Sharp says there are more to come.

“When you add recipients to your message, you’ll see profile pictures of your contacts in autocomplete helping you find the right person faster. You can also drag and drop the new address chips between to:, cc: and bcc:. When you’re done adding recipients, the address area collapses automatically to get out of your way.”

Gmail began rolling out a preview of the new compose and reply on Tuesday, and after added some finishing touches over the coming months, they’ll enable it for everyone.

Gmail’s New Compose And Reply Experience

You can now write messages in a cleaner, simpler experience that puts the focus on your message itself. Some highlights:

Once you click the Compose button, click the “new compose experience” link right next to the Labels button at the top of the message. Until the change is fully launched, you’ll be able to choose whether you use the new or current experience.

If you change your mind or if you need to use a feature that isn’t available yet, you can switch back to the old experience at any time.

Instead of taking up your entire Gmail window, clicking Compose now opens a smaller window at the bottom of your screen.